The present invention relates to a rotary disk type storage device such as a magnetic disk device, an optical magnetic disk device, and the like, provided with an interface connector to be connected to a connector of a host system.
The magnetic disk device can store a large amount of digital data. With the recent trend in needs toward greater capacities and progress in making devices even more compact and reduced weight, there is a mounting need for the magnetic disk device as a storage device for digital contents made up of voice, image, and other types of data. Digital contents are recorded in recording media and very often used in many different fields. As a result, there have been increased cases where the magnetic disk device is demounted from its original host system, such as a personal computer or the like for use in another host system.
The magnetic disk device is generally provided with an interface connector for connecting the device to a host system. A disk-shaped magnetic disk is rotatably supported inside the magnetic disk device. The diameter of the magnetic disk, therefore, substantially governs the external dimensions of the magnetic disk device. The dimension in a direction running parallel with a recording surface of the magnetic disk (hereinafter referred in this specification to as a longitudinal or lateral direction relative to the magnetic disk device or a space in the host system accommodating the magnetic disk device) becomes greater than the dimension in a direction perpendicular to the recording surface of the magnetic disk (hereinafter referred in this specification to as a height direction relative to the magnetic disk device or the space in the host system accommodating the magnetic disk device).
An accommodation space provided in the host system for accommodating the magnetic disk device is therefore shaped flat, being small in the height direction and large in the longitudinal and lateral directions. Further, a terminal of the interface connector for the magnetic disk device has conventionally been provided to be connected from the longitudinal or lateral direction.
A magnetic disk device having such a configuration as that described in the foregoing is shown, for example, in FIG. 6 of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-101607. The magnetic disk device disclosed in this reference is considered to have a plurality of magnetic disks stacked one on top of another. The disk device seems to be relatively tall. Because of the increased storage capacity per magnetic disk in recent years, however, later magnetic disk devices have come to be provided with only one disk, or have the smaller number of stacked disks as compared with the conventional ones. As a result, the later magnetic disk devices have come to be shaped even thinner, as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and (B), with the dimensions in the longitudinal and lateral directions even further enlarged relative to the dimension in the height direction. The accommodation space in the host system has therefore been shaped even thinner, being even smaller in the height direction and larger in the longitudinal and lateral directions.
Referring to FIG. 1(A), a magnetic disk device 10 has a magnetic disk 13 accommodated in a casing 15 and is provided with an interface connector 17 on an end portion of a housing. The terminal 19 of the interface connector 17 is arranged so as to permit access from the longitudinal direction parallel with a recording surface of the magnetic disk 13. Another interface connector (hereinafter referred to in this specification simply as the “connector” when reference is made to the interface connector on the host system side) is provided in the accommodation space in the host system for connecting to the interface connector 17. This second interface connector consumes part of the volume in the accommodation space of the host system in the longitudinal direction.
In the magnetic disk device shown in FIG. 1(A), the interface connector is disposed so as to provide access to its pins from the longitudinal direction. In the magnetic disk device shown in FIG. 1(B), on the other hand, the interface connector 17 is disposed so as to provide access to its terminal from the lateral direction. Although not shown in the figures, a printed circuit board mounted with a control circuit for the magnetic disk device is secured to a bottom surface of the casing 15 in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B).
A technique is known in which a magnetic disk device main body is mounted on a printed circuit board and a connector for connecting to an external device is provided adjacent thereto on the printed circuit board so as to allow access to the connector from the height direction of the magnetic disk device. Such a technique is shown, for example, in FIG. 11 of the aforementioned Japanese reference.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-6726, a portable type magnetic disk device, which is supposed to be demounted from the host system and carried freely, is particularly exposed to a greater possibility of being subjected to impacts due to drop or contact with other objects. The magnetic disk device is nonetheless a precision machine provided therein with a head actuator mechanism and controlled so that a head floats above a front surface of a rotating disk to read or write data while keeping a slight gap from the surface. The device must therefore be appropriately protected from external impacts.
Many magnetic disk devices adopt actuator lock mechanisms of various types in order to prevent the head and the magnetic disk from coming into contact with each other and being damaged. This is done by locking the actuator mechanism, should an external impact be applied while the device remains inactive. The problem is, however, that these improvements are simply not sufficient for providing protection from large impacts, such as dropping of the magnetic disk device.
There is known an approach to improving impact resistance of the portable type magnetic disk device. Specifically, a housing provided with a cushioning material for prevention of impacts is incorporated to cover the entire body of a general-purpose magnetic disk device. An interface connector is then mounted in the housing for establishing an electric connection with a host system. Such a technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-192449. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of a portable magnetic disk device 20 using a general-purpose magnetic disk device 23. The portable type magnetic disk device 20 is configured as described in the following. Specifically, the general-purpose magnetic disk device 23 is accommodated in a housing 29 and an interface connector 27 is provided on an end portion of the housing 29. The general-purpose magnetic disk device 23 is composed of a head disk assembly (HDA), a printed circuit board mounted with an electronic circuit for controlling the HDA, and an interface connector, which are physically integrated together.
One end of a flexible cable (FC) 25 is connected to the interface connector of the magnetic disk device 23. The other end of the flexible cable 25 is connected to the interface connector 27 of the portable type magnetic disk device 20. The terminal of the interface connector 27 is disposed so as to provide access from the longitudinal direction of the portable type magnetic disk device 20. Inserting the portable type magnetic disk device 20 into a bay of the host system and pushing the device 20 in the direction of the arrow will directly connect the device 20 to a connector on the host system.
An impact absorbing material for cushioning is provided between the housing 29 and the magnetic disk device 23. A known technique for applying the impact absorbing material to such a use is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-37198. The portable magnetic disk device 20 removed from the host system may be dropped or hit against an object during transportation, causing the housing 29 or the interface connector 27 to give impact to the general-purpose magnetic disk device 23. Even under this condition, the impact to the general-purpose magnetic disk device 23 is softened, thus preventing the magnetic disk device 23 from being damaged.
In the conventional magnetic disk device 10 and the portable type magnetic disk device 20 shown in FIGS. 1(A), 2(B), and 2, however, access to the interface connector terminal is established in the longitudinal or lateral direction, as applicable, of the corresponding magnetic disk device. To provide a connector for connecting to the interface connector in the accommodation space for the magnetic disk device allotted on the host system side, therefore, a space in the longitudinal and lateral directions corresponding to the connector is taken up from what is available for the entire accommodation space.
The radius of the magnetic disk substantially governs the outside dimensions of the magnetic disk device. Hence, the dimensions in the longitudinal and lateral directions are greater than that in the height direction. When appropriately establishing the overall dimensions and outline of the host system, a need existed to keep dimensions in the longitudinal and lateral directions small, even if the dimensions the height direction of the accommodation space for the magnetic disk device may be enlarged. When working with the accommodation space for the conventional magnetic disk device, there was necessity to allow for a space for the connector in the longitudinal and lateral directions, in addition to the outside dimensions of the magnetic disk device or the portable type magnetic disk device.
In addition, the general-purpose magnetic disk device 23 is used in the conventional portable magnetic disk device 20 shown in FIG. 2. For that reason, it was necessary to provide the interface connector 27 and the flexible cable 25, in addition to the magnetic disk device 23. This was one of the factors contributing to increased cost.